Making our homes more energy efficient

We plan to make some of our hardest to heat council homes more energy efficient.

In 2019 we declared a climate emergency and committed to doing everything we can to end the borough’s contribution to climate change by 2040.

Energy in buildings makes up 21% of the borough’s emissions. This is mostly made up of gas and electricity used in homes and non-domestic buildings.

Retrofitting our homes

Retrofitting is the refurbishment of an existing building to make it:

• more energy efficient and sustainable
• better for the environment
• cheaper to heat

Ways to achieve this include:

• draught-proofing
• improving insulation
• installing an Air or Ground Source Heat Pump (these take the heat from the air or ground and compress it to use for heating or hot water)

Retrofitting helps us to:

• tackle climate change
• reach our commitment of achieving net zero emissions across our services by 2030 through our Climate Action Plan
• potentially save people money off their bills (having a more energy efficient home means it takes less energy to heat people’s homes)

Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF)

Over the next two years we aim to undertake improvements to some of our hardest to heat homes to bring them up to an energy efficiency C rating. These homes will mostly be older street properties.

This is the first scheme of its kind we have undertaken. The multi million pound project has received £4.5m through the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund. We’ll fund the rest of the project.

We’ll survey up to 720 homes to see if they can benefit from the funding. We expect around half to be potentially eligible for improvements under the scheme.

We are currently writing to these households to arrange a survey of their home. A specialist consultant will carry out the survey.

The survey looks at a range of things including:

• the current condition of the home
• current energy usage in the home
• how effective the home’s ventilation is

If we find the home to be suitable under the scheme we provide a package of measures specific to the home to bring it up to the energy efficiency C rating.

We’ll carry out the surveys and provide the package of specific measures over the next 6 months.

Once we complete the surveys we’ll let people know if their home will be part of the initiative. If it is, we’ll inform them of the next steps.

Working with residents

Throughout the initiative we’ll work closely with residents. We’ll ensure we keep residents informed on the timetable for any work on their home and the progress of the scheme as a whole.

Support for private renters or homeowners

For more information on the support available to private homeowners and renters, visit Green homes.